


Contrast

by inkedlove



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Nerd Steve, Science Steve, Sexual Frustration, Steve with Glasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 14:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkedlove/pseuds/inkedlove
Summary: As it turns out, Steve McGarrett is a nerd, which; shock.That might just be Danny's downfall, too.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grace_Williams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Williams/gifts).



> So!! Another short fic from me... who's surprised? I'm working up to longer stuff, I promise (for anyone who cares). 
> 
> A quick explanation of the gifting here... I gifted this to Grace_Williams, my best friend who, funnily, has had this account and name for much longer than we've been watching Five-0. We've got a joke that, as I call Danny my child, she's my granddaughter. Irrelevant. 
> 
> Anyway, the idea came about when we were discussing nerdy Steve one day, so I figured I should give credit where credit is due and all that. 
> 
> As always, kudos and comments or any form of feedback is appreciated. Feel free to follow me on twitter @inktied_ or on tumblr @graspinglou
> 
> Disclaimers and all that
> 
> -K

As it turns out, Steve McGarrett is a nerd, which: shock. Everything about that man screams macho, muscle, could-kill-you-seventeen-ways-with-his-wrist-watch. That's a large part of why Steve never goes undercover; you can't blend in with criminals looking like that, particularly when your jaw clenches anytime someone undeserving is harmed. 

That's one of the things Danny loves about Steve, how his ruthless training comes together with his too-large heart, creating a terrifying yet comforting, crime-fighting machine. 

And sure, there are a million other reasons why Danny loves Steve, and twice as many reasons he wants to shoot him in his kneecaps daily, but his cute-bad-ass-ness takes the lead. 

That is, until Danny finally relents and begins to spend nights at Steve's, in his bed, wondering why he didn't do this sooner. Spending more time with Steve lets Danny learn more and more about him, which Danny thought was near impossible. 

Danny learns Steve is a huge nerd, and it starts with goddamn glasses. 

~

It's late on a Wednesday night, after a rough day at work, when Danny first relents to spending the night at Steve's. They walk in the door at about 10:30, and Steve heads straight to the kitchen to warm up some leftover Chinese takeout from their lazy Sunday dinner. 

Danny accepts a plateful appreciatively, wolfing down the food the moment they're seated at the table. Steve takes his time, watching Danny with an amused expression on his face. He doesn't care, though; he hasn't eaten since his late lunch at the office, right before they were speeding out the door to a suspect's likely hideout. Like with most things, Danny blames Steve for his hunger, so he doesn't fear judgement for that reason and also because, well, Danny's seen Steve eat and that's something he wishes he couldn't say. Steve is an animal in every sense when it comes to food. 

Danny's hunger has him finishing his plate long before Steve, and Steve, the gentleman, then offers to clean up after their supper while Danny showers. Grateful, Danny places a sloppy kiss on Steve's head, laughs at the disgusted face he pulls, and bounds towards the shower. 

Steve's just finished washing the dishes when Danny returns to the kitchen. Danny had ducked in an out of the shower, wanting to be quick in order to get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a long day of paperwork, that is, if they don't get called out on another case. The latter isn't that unlikely, but Danny can hope. Of all things, this life has him hoping for paperwork. 

Danny approaches Steve at the sink, wrapping his arms around the man before him and snuggling his face into the well-muscled back.  
"You go shower," Danny mumbles, dropping a kiss on Steve's shoulder blade through his thin shirt. "I'll finish up here."

So while Steve showers, Danny dries and puts away the dishes, both because he was raised a good and polite boy, and because he wants to hit the sack with Steve as quickly as possible. It's going to be pretty lame and tame for their first night staying together; both men are exhausted. Even so, Danny's blood is thrumming with what this means. 

Sure, they'd been an item for a while now, but they'd been taking it slow with labels. They'd messed around a lot before actually confirming anything feelings-wise, for almost a month. That confirmation came as Danny pulled away early last night. Steve, as Danny had slowly made his way towards the front door, had stopped Danny with a hand on his shoulder and stated that they needed to discuss their relationship and where it lead. 

That was what tonight was supposed to be for, except the case had gotten slightly out of hand. Typical, Danny tells himself, but annoying all the same. Despite that, Danny agreed to stay the night at Steve's, figuring that if they were ready to discuss the relationship, they were ready to spend an actual night together rather than one of them scurrying off in the darkness. 

The creaking of a floorboard breaks Danny's train of thought. He hears the steadying sound of Steve's relaxed breathing, and smiles to himself as he reaches to slide the plate onto the shelf above his head. He can feel Steve's eyes on him as he turns slowly, fully prepared to come at Steve with a kiss, but stops short when he sees Steve's face. 

Resting midway down his nose are a pair of thick, black glasses, the lenses making his eyes look that much bigger. The sight alone is enough to make Danny want to drop to his knees, ACL be damned, but he wants to know he's not being played, first. 

"Glasses?" Danny finally gets his mouth to un-slacken and follow orders again, but his eyes are still wide.  
"Mm hm," Steve nods, looking confused but with a tinge of smugness.  
"How long have you had those?" Danny takes an aborted step towards Steve, torn between wanting to reach out and readjust the glasses on Steve's face and turning away, slapping himself across the face for whatever it is he's feeling right now. 

"Six weeks or so, vision's deteriorated enough to warrant full-time use, apparently." Steve shrugs, his face much more smug upon watching Danny's reaction. "I have been wearing contacts, though. Easier, don't get in the way and whatever." Danny bites his lip, contemplating his reply.  
"I like the glasses," he decides on, finally. "They make you look, I don't know... Informed? Educated?"  
"Nerdy?" Both men laugh.  
"I guess. Let's head to bed," Danny suggests. He can't deal with this idea of Nerdy Steve, not tonight. 

~

This went on for weeks, Danny receiving glimpses of Steve in his glasses right before they climbed into bed. Whenever Danny stayed at his own home, images of Steve in his glasses fuelled his fantasies. It confused the man, as glasses had never done it for him. Granted, men hadn't done it for him either, at least, not as much as Steve constantly has. 

He figures, late one night as he lies awake and alone in his bed, that it's probably a Steve thing, rather than anything else. The more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense. He's seeing glimpses of this nerdy-seeming Steve, and it's such a contrast to what he's used to. Danny acknowledges that Steve has plenty of brain to go with his brawn, a lot more than he gets credit for, but his use of brute force and violence usually overshadows the mental weight-lifting that goes on behind the scenes. 

But even as Danny deconstructs his attraction to Steve in his head, it doesn't have an effect on how it makes Danny feel. Ultimately, regardless of what Danny wants to think, the thought of Steve in glasses still makes his dick hard. It's not yet an issue, but it's certainly heading down that road. 

As long as Danny doesn't see too much of Steve in those goddamn glasses, he's okay. A couple of minutes before bed don't hurt, and Steve's always up and freshly done swimming by the time Danny awakes, so he can get on with his day without thinking about it.

Well, mostly. 

~ 

The first morning Danny wakes to see Steve in glasses is a memorable one. It's late Saturday morning, late enough Danny's feeling a tad guilty, after a... wild night, to say the least. Wild without alcohol, that is. 

Steve's seated on the couch with his legs resting leisurely on the coffee table, which in itself isn't unusual. He's got a newspaper spread wide and low in front of him, a couple of days old Danny notes, and those stupid glasses on his face. Danny hates them, loathes them, for how they make him feel. 

"Morning," Steve grins evilly, "sleep well, Danno?"  
Danny grunts noncommittally as he doesn't trust his voice to come out steady when his head and stomach are matching messes.  
Steve tips his head back with a smug, smug look on his face, licking his lips in a way Danny's sure is purposeful. 

After a long pause, during which Danny does nothing but stare slash glare at Steve's handsome face, he speaks.  
"What you readin'?" If Danny's voice is half an octave higher than usual, he'll blame a scratchy throat. Steve hums, still smug.  
"Something about the direct relationship between glasses and attractiveness," Danny groans in disbelief and tears the newspaper from his partner's hands, and Steve stands to laugh loudly in Danny's face. He's cackling like a witch, and Danny's face flushes, which only makes him laugh more. Danny's enraged. 

"I hate you, I hate you so much." If Danny could, he'd rush out to bury his head in the sand right now, just as Steve does whenever his feelings are brought up.  
"No, you don't, Danno." He does, he really does. "You love me, really." Danny hates his guts. He's been awake five minutes and already wants nothing more than to shoot Steve in the kneecaps, or maybe kiss him senseless. 

Considering he's currently weaponless, he goes with the latter. He shoves Steve in the chest, hard, so he topples backwards onto his ass. Enjoying the slightly shocked expression on his partner's face, Danny follows him down and kisses him with fervour, the glasses pressing into his face not going unnoticed. 

When Danny pulls back, Steve's got a content smile on his face. Content with his discoveries, with the kiss or both, Danny's unsure. 

 

“Fuck you.” There’s no heat behind Danny’s comment because he follows it up with a kiss to Steve’s nose. Steve’s laughing again, glasses low on his nose. 

Danny still hates them. 

~ 

Over the following weeks, Danny feels attacked. Everywhere he looks, every time he blinks, glasses-Steve is smirking right at him. He swears that Steve brings out the glasses any chance he gets - as soon as they make it to Steve’s place, Steve’s switching his contacts for his glasses. He even wears his glasses to work on one terrible, terrible day. 

That day earns him a, “woah, boss!” from Kono and a, “you’re getting old, McGarrett,” from Chin, but Steve’s smirk doesn’t leave for the whole day. Anytime Danny’s looking up from his paperwork he’s seeing glasses-Steve smirking, usually looking straight back at him. 

It’s a nightmare. 

The thing is, that’s not all. Steve’s making his life a living hell by pulling out the glasses at every possible occasion, but he’s also started leaving huge-ass textbooks all over his house. For once, Steve’s doing his own paperwork and bringing it home; he’s been the epitome of studious for a month. Not to mention the fact he’s thrown around the idea, out loud, of heading back to school to get a science degree of some sort. 

Honestly, ignoring this infatuation Danny has with Steve’s glasses has got him exactly squat. In fact, he’s basically shot himself in the foot with this one. Steve's a goddamn asshole, for sure, but Danny can’t help but wonder what would happen if he addressed the issue head-on. 

It all comes to a screeching halt one rainy Saturday afternoon. Danny was supposed to have Grace, but Rachel and Stan had some emergency to tend to on the Big Island and had taken Grace with them. 

Ignoring the sheets of rain pelting his body, Danny jogs to Steve’s front door and barges in without warning. The sight that meets him is a shock, and that in itself shouldn't be a shock, the amount that’s happened of late. Steve’s lounging in the armchair in nothing but scantily clad black boxers and a pair of fluffy bright green socks, still with glasses on his nose, actually reading one of the textbooks that had been lying around. 

When Danny enters, Steve holds up a “wait just a minute” finger as he presumably finishes the section. It’s not as if Danny could speak anyway. Here he is, planning to confront this thing they’ve got going on with the glasses, only to be blown away by the legitimacy of it all. He’d thought the whole textbook thing had just been messing with him, but apparently not. Steve didn't know Danny was coming round. This isn’t an act. Steve is a nerd. 

Steve is a nerd. 

Steve. 

Is.

A. 

Nerd. 

More than anything, it’s endearing. That is, after Danny overcomes the whole holy shit, glasses thing. It actually makes a lot of sense, Danny realises, given how smart Steve is. Again, it’s just the contrast that’s thrown him off. 

Steve McGarrett, Navy SEAL, is a nerd. But more than that, he’s a loving and kind man who puts others before himself without fail. He’s a man who knows exactly what he’s doing with a gun, but knows equally how to explain a math equation to a child. He’s got gun calloused hands that softly caress and knowingly guide. 

And Danny’s in love with him, so hopelessly in love with him. He’s in love with this man who infuriates him in the best ways, and also looks really good with glasses. 

“I like the glasses,” Danny interrupts Steve’s reading to kiss him with everything he’s got. 

fin.


End file.
